Cathedrals by Jump, Little Children.
This is truly, one of the most beautiful songs ever. If you don’t read my post, please just listen to the music. Simply gorgeous.
“In the shadows of tall buildings
Of fallen angels on the ceilings
Oily feathers in bronze and concrete
Faded colors, pieces left incomplete” – I have always been in awe of great architecture, particularly when it comes to places of worship. There is just something about the time, effort, care and financial sacrifice needed to create a church or synagogue. Michelangelo, lying on his back for 4 years, to paint the Sistine Chapel. It took 418 years to complete the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia. It boggles the mind.
And the beautiful examples out there.
We pass this mosque on our way to Michigan.
And while I didn’t attend regularly (I have issues with organized religion) I always found such comfort sitting in here, at St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Savannah. Where it was cool, quiet and peaceful. I would come when there wasn’t a service and just….sit.
I actually gasped walking into Notre Dame in Paris. The rose window is breath-taking.
Or this sweet, adobe church, San Albino Catholic Church in Mesilla, NM that we stumbled upon during our travels.
“In the cathedrals of New York and Rome
There is a feeling that you should just go home
And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is” – I am inspired when I see buildings such as these. I am touched in a quiet, personal and indescribable way when I pass through their doors. But deep inside your heart is where you find your peace. It’s where I find mine.
I don’t need to visit churches, mosques or synagogues to feel a greater presence.
I just enjoy the awe they inspire.
Theycallmejane's Blog 
I too, have issues with organized religion, but I happen to find churches beautiful…I am always sad when one closes due to the congregation not having the money to maintain the building…
If you ever visit Montreal, a visit to the Notre Dame Cathedral there is a must!
Wendy
I’m with you, fine architecture, especially on buildings of religious significance is a wonderful thing to see. I don’t feel the need for organised religion either but I can get quite choked up in any religious building. I can *feel* the collective hopes, wishes and love of all who worship there.
The most profound experience I’ve had is in Wells Cathedral in Somerset (close to Glastonbury Tor and on a whole series of ley lines that run from Glastonbury through to Stone Henge and beyond). I was really fighting to hold back the tears. They were happy tears but no one else would have known that and I’d have just looked a bit demented.
Thanks for sharing this music. I watched the “music video” but the You Tube video with the lyrics is even more meaningful. The pictures you shared bring back some wonderful memories.
I too sit in churches when services are not and enjoy. The quiet is awesome. I also find that joy and grandeur in a field, on a mountain, in a tall forest, listening to ocean. This was a lovely reminder of peace, as I am surrounded by very urban sounds.
There’s a reason that people are moved by these places…though I am sure you could just as easily sense a “presence” in your laundry room or a Starbucks, they just don’t have the same sense of being “set apart” for something special. I’m one of those people who does go in for organized religion, and one of the things that they do very well is the sense of place…little glimpses of beyond. Gorgeous pics!
“one of the things that they do very well is the sense of place”
So, so true!
I live near Chicago where great architecture is living and breathing. Grand buildings whether they are grand holy places or cultural centers or monuments to the men who could afford to build them just take my breathe away. I have great awe and wonder for those who could dream up these buildings, to see a grand plan I know I never could.
I agree, I love going into churches and other places of worship. The vibe is just so beautiful. You cannot help but be reverent.
Beautiful photos! And I agree with you. I find buildings like this amazing. When I was in Italy, I could have spent all day walking in and out of the cathedrals.
“I don’t need to visit churches, mosques or synagogues to feel a greater presence.
I just enjoy the awe they inspire.”
Just love these two lines Jane.
When I went to New Delhi, I walked to the Bahai temple (shaped like a lotus). It was almost a 110 degrees outside and you had to take your shoes off to enter the place, but the twenty minutes I spent there have left a lasting impression on me. There was a sense of quiet and peace. The architecture of the structure and the emotion of the building were perfectly in sync.
This must be the day for things of the spirit. Strange synchronicity.
I also have an ambivalence toward organized religion. I’ve never felt a need for a building to feel connected to things that are grander or more mysterious.
I’ve been in empty chapels, cathedrals, synagogues, byzantine churches. The beauty is amazing. And I agree that sometimes, being there alone is even more extraordinary.
Then there are the days when just walking around the block is as celebratory as you can get. Of everything.
Churches aren’t usually my thing – organized religion definitely not – but I’m out in New Orleans right now – and there are some absolutely beautiful churches out here – the architecture is amazing, I can’t help but stare!
There’s just something about an old church … the smell, the feel of the air, the way the light shines in … It makes you believe in something, even if it’s just yourself.
This is gorgeous. I love entering cathedrals and churches. I don’t care if they’re of a different religion than mine, or far from home or nearby, I love the sacred presence of them, the quiet, the stillness.
Lovely pictures and sentiments. The song is beautiful too – I’m going to have to download that one!
Never heard the song but you are right–it’s lovely. I have “issues” too, but a beautiful old church never fails to impress me.
The majesty of these buildings is incredible. I, too, was amazed by the rose window at the Notre Dame. Wish they allowed tripods in there! D used my head to rest the camera on, which was the best we could manage.
Me, too.
When I first began reading this, I thought you were going to write about the mosque-near-the-9/11-site controversy. That’s a tough one, isn’t it.
Churches in their beauty never fail to inspire and awe me.
Great post.
There is something about those spaces – particularly the most ancient ones – that makes me reverent. The history, gravity, iconography and pure heft of those old cathedrals and basilicas make them seem other-worldly. Given how they came to be, I suppose they sort of are.